


Schadenfreude

by Pavane



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Big Brother Thor, Brothers, Childhood, Childhood Friends, Discipline, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Growing Up, Jealousy, Loki Lies, Loki being a little shit, Loki's Magic, Loki-centric, Manipulative Loki, Minor Violence, Non-Consensual Spanking, Odin's Parenting, Over the Knee, Revenge, Schadenfreude, Sibling Rivalry, Siblings, Spanking, young loki, young thor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-05-27
Packaged: 2018-04-01 13:05:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4020898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pavane/pseuds/Pavane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jealous of his favored older brother and bitter at being seen as the weaker and less competent sibling, Loki discovers the pleasure of lying and manipulation to get Thor in trouble with Odin. Contains father-son disciplinary spanking and brother-brother revenge spanking.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Schadenfreude

The family was gathered for a quiet breakfast in their private chambers. Unlike the vast feasts that occupied their evenings, the morning meal was solitary and functional, consisting of a heaping portion of barley porridge, some oily fish, and a cup of thick milk for each of them. Always hungry, growing Thor shoveled his portion into his mouth with abandon as Loki picked more delicately, toying with the idea of transfiguring his porridge into something more flavorful. Frigga insisted that such spartan, healthy food was better for them as their first meal than constantly over-indulging on rich stews and mead, but Loki wished the porridge could at least be a little sweeter.

Odin and Frigga both had a long list of formal business to attend to in court that day and would not have time to tutor their sons as they usually did, so Odin inquired what plans they had made for their day of leisure.

Loki started to explain that he was going to practice some of the magic Frigga had given permission for him to try on his own, eager to demonstrate that he made responsible use of his free time, but Thor barreled over him in his booming voice. “I am going to show Mjolnir to Sif and the Warriors Three!”

Odin frowned. “Hmm. I would not have you entering the vault unaccompanied by myself or your mother,” he replied, taking a bite of breakfast and ignoring Thor’s petulant frown. “There are many dangerous artifacts within whose powers you do not understand.”

“I understand enough not to touch them!” Thor protested. “I just want to look at Mjolnir.”

“But what of your companions? Are you certain _they_ will behave themselves around so many curious treasures? And you know that it is particularly dangerous for Loki, with his magic yet unmastered in the presence of sensitive magical objects.”

Loki started up to contest this assertion-- he had been improving steadily!-- but Frigga shot him a warning glance, silently reminding him that although she knew Odin’s assessment of his abilities was unfair, this warning was meant for Thor’s benefit and did not concern him. Loki balked at serving as a “lesson” for his brother when so much of Odin’s attention was already focused exclusively on Thor, but the rare delight of watching his golden brother grate under their father’s critical attentions was a considerable consolation.

“It is no fault of _mine_ if Loki is too clumsy and foolish to be safe in the vault,” Thor grumbled. Loki glared at him with such fury that if his magic were better, he might have burst into flames.

“But as Loki is your younger brother, it _is_ your responsibility that he is not brought into danger on your watch.”

“Why do I have to watch him, then?”

“You are his elder brother and he follows you and your friends. And you will be king one day, Thor; you will be responsible for many vulnerable subjects. You must become practiced in assessing their abilities and protecting them from their own weaknesses.” 

“Then I will do what I intend to do to Loki: tie them all to a rock and leave them where they cannot harm themselves!” Thor jested.

“Thor,” Odin’s voice was testy, meaning his coming words were final. “If you cannot obey my instructions because you agree with the logic of them, then you will simply have to obey because I command it. I _forbid_ you to take Loki into the vault. Is that understood?”

Thor glared at his breakfast, resigned that it would be foolhardy to contradict his father further. “Aye,” he sighed.

“That goes as much for you, too, Loki,” Frigga added, knowing how well her second son often tiptoed around his parents’ instructions. “Do not drag your brother after you by venturing heedlessly into danger.”

But since Thor had already promised them a glimpse of Mjolnir, Sif and the Warriors Three found the two brothers shortly after breakfast, eager with anticipation.

“So?” Hogun asked, raising his eyebrows in the expectation the rest of them were all feeling. He was famously short of words but he made them count.

“We can’t go in the vault,” Thor sighed with open disappointment and disgust. “Father says Loki isn’t allowed because we can’t trust him to be safe around the artifacts.”

“Then leave him behind!” said Sif.

“He would be glad to spend an afternoon in the library, wouldn’t he?” offered Fandral.

“’Tis rare to find him anywhere else but in his room with a book, anyway,” added Volstagg.

They spoke as if he wasn’t even there. “I do not wish to go to the library or my room,” Loki protested, all plans of magical practice forgotten knowing that Thor and his friends would be up to fun without him, “and I am just as capable of keeping safe around the artifacts as the rest of you unpracticed buffoons.”

Sif made a sniff of disbelief.

“But you cannot come with us, Loki,” said Thor. “You heard what Father said this morning.”

“Father said that you were forbidden to go into the vault.”

“No, Father said that I was forbidden to put you in danger. So as long as I see that you are safe, I have every right to enter myself-- and Mjolnir is my birthright and I wish to see her. So you will wait for us outside.”

Loki immediately clenched his fists in defiance, but the others instantly returned his aggressive stance, puffing themselves up and stepping forward in preparation to bodily prevent him from coming in. He knew there was no way he could defeat five young warriors all more experienced than himself, so he sighed in defeat and turned his back . . . 

. . . and out of their vision made the subtle gesture to magick a copy of himself to distract them, so that he could sneak inside as his copy pitched a brief in-character fit and finally walked down the hall. Frigga had only taught the spell to him recently, but he had been practicing diligently, alone in his room against her instructions to practice until under her supervision. It had paid off, though, because Loki was surprised when the spell worked without a hitch. And Odin thought his magic unmastered! But of course Odin would underestimate him.

The others sighed with relief as they entered, shutting the door behind them to keep out the Loki they thought they had left out in the hall. However, Loki’s true form was already crouched behind one of the stone platforms that cradled objects of Odin’s conquests in distant realms.

“She is this way,” Thor explained, brimming with prideful eagerness to show his friends the mythical weapon he would one day wield. “When I come of age, I will wield her in battle against all of Asgard’s foes!” However, when he came upon her, he found Loki standing right beside her, leaning casually against her platform.

“How did you-?” Thor gaped at him. Loki only lifted the side of his lips into a cocky half-smile.

“ _I_ want to see Mjolnir, too,” Loki insisted, for the first time genuinely enthusiastic to be in her presence. When walking with Odin and Thor in the vault, typically he could not _stand_ when Thor began yammering about how he would one day be warrior enough to manage her and the great hammer would be his. However, this was an entirely different situation. Watching Thor’s eyes upon him, he extended a long, pale hand for her handle.

“Do not touch her!” Thor shouted, shaking with impotent rage. Although Mjolnir could only be lifted by one who was worthy, he was clearly terrified by the possibility that Loki might be worthy before he was.

Loki relished his terror, but realizing that this was a question he possibly did not want answered, especially before an audience already thought so little of him, he backed away. “Oh, you may keep your short-handed hammer, Thor; I’m certain it suits you,” he replied with open spite, and then smiled as he saw Sif’s eyes dart curiously towards Thor’s codpiece in spite of herself. “Perhaps I am worthy of another far greater relic. Shall I take a look?” His eyes were caught by the glowing blue of another object at the far end of the vault and he approached it. “The Casket of Ancient Winters,” he read aloud from the plaque. He drew closer.

“You wouldn’t,” said Sif with confidence.

“You really _shouldn’t_ ,” added Volstagg.

“Come, Loki; you know you are not yet powerful enough to wield any of these,” said Thor, nearly rolling his eyes. “You would not dare risk destroying the treasures of the vault. And you would not defy our father and mother.”

“Perhaps I am. Perhaps I would. Perhaps I am braver than you, Thor.”

He climbed up beyond it, ready to lift it by its handles on either side. The others watched him with guarded curiosity, waiting for him to show his bluff, which only spurred him to boldness. Would he truly lift it? And what would it do? Did they _want_ to know what it would do?

However, his bravery certainly faltered when the heavy door of the vault burst open to reveal Odin, 

Loki realized his copy waiting outside the door-- he had forgotten to dismiss it-- must have attracted the attention of the patrolling guard they had taken such care to avoid. His eye whirled over the scene to take in all 6 of the children, including Loki about to touch one of the forbidden objects.

“Stop!” Odin cried, clearly horrified at the prospect that Loki might have touched it already. All of the children immediately went silent and still.

Then suddenly, Loki burst into tears.

Odin blinked, recoiling at his second son’s unabashed weeping. He wished his wife were by; this was Frigga’s business. Although he scolded his sons that it was simply unseemly and childish to weep freely, the truth was that he simply had no idea how to handle a crying child.

His face now wet with numerous trails of tears and his lips in a red and swollen pout, Loki finally vocalized the reason for his anguish, “Thor made me do it!” 

Thor’s jaw dropped and he looked desperately back and forth between his father and brother, as if daring Odin to actually believe Loki would lie so boldly. But Odin’s discomfort with Loki’s tears made him blind to the possibility of lies, for surely no brave son of Asgard would demean himself with weeping unless it were beyond his control. Odin whirled on Thor—poor Thor, who did not think on his feet nearly as fast as Loki. “I didn’t!” he protested.

“He told me I was too weak and cowardly to touch it!” Loki continued.

“Thor?” Odin’s eye was steely.

“I . . . I did tell him I thought he was too cowardly to try it,” he admitted. “but it was not to _challenge_ him. He did not have to choose to prove me wrong!”

“Do you think your brother’s pride is any less than your own? Would _you_ suffer such a challenge in front of your friends?” Odin asked.  
Thor’s abashed silence confessed clearly that he wouldn’t.

“You had every intention of humiliating him either way,” Odin concluded. “You abused your power over him.”

Loki stepped down from the casket and hurried to his father’s side, burying his face into his robes, well aware that he was sealing Thor’s fate. 

“We spoke on this just this morning,” Odin barreled onward. “You were not to even bring Loki into this place to begin with. You promised to heed my warning, yet you have treated your brother recklessly and deliberately disobeyed me. Now, to my chambers with no further argument, unless you would have your friends see your chastisement.”

Loki had to quickly force a tearful swallow to disguise his burgeoning beam of delight, watching out of the side of his eyes to see how Thor’s friends responded. Odin was certainly furious to humiliate Thor in front of his friends. His threat had the desired effect and Thor strode swiftly from the room, face steaming red and refusing to look at any of them. “All of you, out of the vault,” Odin commanded before leaving Loki’s side and following Thor.

Sif leered at Loki. “Well, you have certainly proven you are a coward,” she said before ushering the others along with her. 

In the end Loki did end up in his room alone with a book, for his brother’s friends had no more interest in him and he had no interest in finding Thor once Odin was done with him.

However, Thor did not leave him in peace. 

The thick door of Loki’s chambers slammed against the stone wall with a thunderous boom that shuddering the entire room when Thor found his little brother. Loki couldn’t help but jump several inches out of his chair, his book clattering the floor.

“You liar!” Thor roared, striding boldly forward to accost him. Instinctively, Loki got to his feet and began backing towards the wall, trying to put the chair between himself and his raging bull of a brother. However, Thor merely knocked it aside with a scrape and a thump and seized Loki by his shoulders.

Loki’s head spun as Thor shoved him flat back against the wall, nearly cracking his head against the stone. Loki shoved back—only a token shove, really—and Thor slammed him back so hard he saw stars. 

“You lied to Father!” Thor repeated.

Although Thor was dangerously angry and Loki’s scalp and spine were both throbbing with the knowledge of it, Loki nevertheless understood the power he held. He had gotten the better of Thor, turned Odin himself against him, and nothing that Thor did could change that. Loki had no intention of apologizing.

“You set yourself up for it,” he spat. “You’re the one who just sat back and let him believe I was weak and clumsy and cowardly!” 

“You did that all on your own, brother,” Thor retorted, features scrunching in anger. “If you were truly as skilled as you believe, Father would have noticed without any word from me. And if you weren’t a coward, you would take responsibility for your own actions!”

“If _you_ were clever, you would have thought to have gotten yourself out of trouble, just as I did,” Loki retorted.

No longer capable of coherent discourse in his anger, Thor seized his brother by the hair and yanked him forward, forcing him belly-down onto the thin rug decorating the room that barely softened the marble floor. Loki instinctively turned his face to the side to prevent his nose crushing against the hard stone, a lesson he’d learned from a broken nose once before-- but Thor did not push his face into the carpet, nor twist his arm up his back, yank his hair so his head lifted from the floor, or pummel him as he had many times before. Instead, he threw a leg over him and sat squarely on the small of his back, facing his legs, pinning Loki’s arms to his sides with his thighs-- and rather than continue with close-fisted blows, brought his open hand down with an resounding slap upon the fleshiest point of Loki’s backside.

Loki yelped loudly in shock and indignation, thrown off guard by this unexpected attack. Throughout their competitive childhood the brothers had devised nearly every possible way of harming each other, but neither of them had done _this_ ; spanking was something they mutually feared and dreaded from their father, off-limits as a weapon in a brotherly tussle. But now that Loki had crossed a line in lying to Odin to get Thor in trouble, Thor was crossing another. Loki felt he would burst with humiliated outrage, straining and struggling against Thor’s thighs and violently flinging a foot up in hopes of kicking Thor in the face-- but Thor sat safely out of range at his waist and only smacked him again in retaliation.

The resulting squeal was of an undignified high pitch. “Stop this!” Loki shouted, hoping to sound authoritative-- but only sounding desperate. 

“If you will not be forthright with Father, then _I_ shall be the one to punish you,” Thor told him. “For your mischief _and_ your lies!” 

“ _Stop!_ " Loki shouted again, this time with his voice breaking, as his brother’s hand slapped one thigh and then the other. But Thor did not stop and neither could Loki, Thor raining blows down on him so quickly Loki soon felt more numbness than pain as he continued to yelp and squirm within Thor’s hold. 

The din was so loud Loki didn’t even hear the swift approach of footsteps until the door crashed open once more, revealing Odin and his wrath. 

There was no hiding what was going on and Thor barely had time to scramble backwards off of Loki before Odin was upon them, seizing Thor under his arm and jerking him to his feet. He paled and opened his mouth, but he was not as quick on his feet with words as his brother and only shut it again in silence. Besides, Odin didn’t look interested in hearing his defense. 

Loki carefully rolled to a crouched position against the wall again-- Thor had seen to it he was not comfortable to sit-- and would have risen to his feet, but he froze in place at the shock of what followed. Rather than send him out as Loki expected, Odin dragged Thor further back in the chamber to Loki’s bed, where he sat and in one sharp motion yanked him across his lap. Thor gasped and Loki’s eyebrows flew upward as Odin wrenched Thor’s pants to his knees.

“No! Father, please!” Thor cried weakly in desperation, though he already knew it was no use. Loki cringed for a moment in recognition of the same pitiful pleas that spilled forth from his own lips when under Odin’s hand. He was close enough to see that Thor’s backside was still streaked with the faded stripes of his earlier punishment—wrought by a switch, by the looks of it—and felt a sweet thrill of vindication knowing that despite the sting and light throbbing of his own backside, Thor had felt and would soon again be feeling much worse. 

Odin’s large hand fell upon Thor’s tensed buttocks, already flushed in shame. The echo of the smack ricocheted off the stone walls and Thor released a ragged howl of anguish not dissimilar to the incoherent shouts of rage Odin was prone to when words failed him. 

Odin hissed down to him: “How dare you raise your hand to your brother! Who are you to punish him as if you were his father?”

“But-!” Thor started to speak but was cut off by another smack, “you told me I’m responsible for him!”

“And responsibility means _protecting_ him! Treating him _fairly_! Not to be cruel on selfish whims and take vengeance on him out of your own wounded pride!”

In response, Thor could only wail in misery. Loki’s heart raced with terror that somehow his deception would be revealed, but Thor could not speak on his own behalf, and the more he wailed in resignation the more Loki believed in his success. His shock warmed into smug satisfaction and he had to consciously keep from smiling again, lest Odin spot him across the room. It was more than he ever could have hoped for! His proud, golden brother laid low before their father, all in Loki’s defense-- and all by Loki’s doing!

Finally, Odin turned Thor off of his knee and briskly jerked back up his pants, punctuating his son’s final moan of pain. Thor was clearly conscious of Loki’s eyes, keeping his back to him as he climbed from Odin’s lap and hung his head so that his hair concealed his face. His hunched shoulders shook as he stood shamed before his father.

“Have I made myself clear?” Odin asked him.

“It’s not _fair_ ,” Thor muttered uselessly.

“But is it not also unfair that you should be king one day when others will not?” Odin asked. “I hold you to the highest expectations because your responsibility will be greatest. You must learn to be a wise and fair ruler, Thor, not a reckless tyrant.”

“Aye, Father,” Thor replied meekly, and Odin dismissed him.

However, no sooner had Thor departed from earshot than Odin rounded on Loki, eye blazing. Loki recoiled automatically, curling up tighter against his knees.

“Your brother had no right to assault you so,“ he assured him with cool calm before raising an eyebrow. “But have you lied to me, Loki Odinson?”

Loki wondered how Odin could think anyone would be foolish enough to confess to anything after witnessing what he just had. Truth be damned, there was only one _sensible_ answer and Loki did not hesitate to give it: “No, Father.”

Odin continued to stare him down but Loki kept his gaze steady, willing only innocence to show in his eyes although fear of discovery made his heart race. Finally, Odin left.

After collecting himself, righting the overthrown chair, and attempting to return to his reading, Loki found himself too overstimulated from the day’s events to concentrate, so he went in search of his one constant companion. It was not difficult to find him, for though Loki preferred to hide in the privacy of his room or the library, Thor sought out the comfort of either his friends or the kitchens. Loki found him reclined-- not _sitting_ , of course, for that would be too painful-- against a bench outside the kitchens, gnawing at a bit of meaty bone he must have pilfered or begged off a cook.

Thor saw him and immediately averted his eyes. “I do not wish to be in your company, brother,” he sulked, turning his back to him. “I have no care to keep confidence with one who would lead me into mischief and betray me.”

Loki recoiled as if he had been struck. Although he knew Thor was sore, it was not like him to gold grudges for long. His anger was explosive but soon passed, like a clap of thunder. “It was hardly _betrayal_ , Thor. You simply did not think to defend yourself as quickly as I did.”

“You lied outright,” Thor insisted. “You did not need to condemn me to defend yourself.”

“And you do not need to constantly outshine me to prove yourself!” Loki retorted. 

“I do nothing of the sort,” Thor sniffed. “It is not my fault if you do not impress our father as highly as you wish.”

“Nor mine!” Loki cried. “And is it not akin to a lie when you allow him to speak disparagingly of me without a word to my defense?” And suddenly-- just as suddenly as he had before-- Loki began to cry again, hot tears welling up in his reddening eyes.

Thor furrowed his brows, clearly struggling with whether to accept his anguish as genuine. He had seen Loki burst into tears out of nowhere just that morning, and yet in his heart Thor knew the truth in the words that accompanied the tears. 

“I am sorry I did not defend you when Odin insulted your magic this morning,” Thor said with gentle earnestness. He thought of Loki’s success in deceiving them all that morning with his copy. “You are indeed far more skilled than he gives you credit. However, I have never brought Father’s hand down to punish you as you did to me this day.” He looked to his brother in expectation, hoping for a fair exchange of apology.

However, Loki was not yet ready to release his power over Thor’s misery. “He punished you for your own disobedience; you were forbidden to bring me into the vault.”

“And I did _not_ bring you into the vault. You brought yourself in against all of my efforts, yet blamed me nonetheless. And whatever ‘disobedience’ I have committed I have already atoned for; now do you not believe that you should be punished for your lies?”

“No,” Loki replied staunchly, pouting his lower lip.

Thor almost laughed at his little brother, who was usually so crafty with his words. “You should not fear a _just_ punishment, brother. It is meant to make you better.”

“Oh, of course not, for I am certain _you_ welcome punishment. ‘Father! No please!’” he mimicked.

Thor flushed in spite of himself, but replied calmly: “I do not jest, Loki. I do not wish to be subjected to what I have not earned, but it is a sign of bravery and maturity to accept due consequences.”

“I think it is more like a sign of failing to think or run fast enough.”

“Why do you fear it so?” Thor asked. “It is unpleasant to be sure, but it is over with quickly enough, and then all is right again.”

“Is it?” Loki asked, still tearful. “ _Is_ all right again once Father has seen me weeping and pleading? When for a single moment he has turned his gaze solely upon _me_ and not you before me, but all he sees is that I have failed him somehow—and in his wrath I am clumsy and not clever, and only prove to him what he has always believed me to be?” Loki exhaled deeply, startled at the relief of having divulged a flood of truth after a day concocting falsehoods and illusions. He struggled to meet Thor’s eyes.

“But you wept before him on purpose, just now,” Thor pointed out. “You are only to blame for that.”

“But for once he was not disappointed in me!” said Loki. He sniffed indignantly. “It was a calculated strategy.”

Thor’s eyes crinkled with amusement, but there was a sweet sad pity for his brother within them. “And yet you do not believe you are still but a frightened child who needs to be protected?”

“I am _not_ just a frightened child!” Loki snapped at Thor’s patronizing smile, although he knew how foolish the protest sounded in his tearful voice.

“To be sure, you are lying, scheming, and incredibly difficult child,” Thor concluded, and with a firm yank pulled Loki’s arm so that his brother stumbled onto the bench with him-- but caught him so that he did not land roughly. Loki struggled to try to right himself, instantly terrified Thor was going to spank him again, but Thor only held him tight. “I forgive you, brother,” Thor told him, relishing how his little brother squirmed helplessly against his strong arms. 

“However,” he continued, “you had best prepare yourself that I take you to task again the next time I catch you lying. I am brave enough to take an unjust whipping again to see that _you_ are not spared the consequences of your mischief-- and you may learn not the only one who can learn to conceal your disobedience from our father!”

Loki finally fell silent and stopped struggling, knowing it was the only way Thor would eventually release him. But prepare for Thor to wise to his deceit? He was already one step ahead. The next time he got the better of Thor, he would make sure that even Thor didn’t know he had lied!


End file.
